Liriope platyphylla has been though as an useful medical plant to improve the cough, sputum, neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, and diabetes in Korea and China from old times. In order to investigate the effects of Liriope platyphylla on expression and secretion of nerve growth factor (NGF), the mRNA expression and protein secretion were detected in the neuronal cell (B35) and neuroglial cell (C6) cultured with three differences concentration (5%, 10%, 15%) of Liriope platyphylla. In MTT assay and FACS anslysis, the some death of some B35 and C6 cells were observed in 15% extract-treated group, while other groups did not induce the death. Also, the mRNA expression of NGF were significantly increased in 5% and 10% extracts treated-group. Furthermore, the NGF protein concentration in supernatant collected from cultured cells showed the very similar pattern with mRNA expression. In order to verify the activity of secreted NGF, the culture supernatant collected from B35 and C6 cells cultured with Liriope platyphylla extracts for 24 hrs were treated into undifferentiated PC12 cells, and the differentiation level of PC12 cell were also observed with microscopes. The differentiation level of PC12 cell were significantly increased depend on the dose of extract. Therefore, these results suggested that the water extracts of Liriope platyphylla may contribute the regulation of NGF expression and secretion in the neuronal cell and be considered as an excellent candidate for a neurodegenerative disease-therapeutic drug.

For the investigation of possibility as a useful functional material, different parts of Lythrum salicaria L. harvested at four growth stages were studied in the aspect of bleeding characteristics, chemical composition and in vitro activity. Weights (g/plant) of L. salicaria plant parts were high in order to stem > leaf > flower > root at the best growth time. Crude lipids (3.59~4.30%) and crude proteins (14.7~23.5%) of L. salicaria leaves were the highest among the other plant parts showed from 0.08~3.54%, and 4.0~21.9%, respectively. Free sugars (2.9~4.2%) and crude ash (11.9~14.8) of leaves also showed the highest value. Free radical scavenging activities of L. salicaria root on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl showed from to as which were followed by those of flower, leaf, and stem. Root of L. salicaria tested at also showed the most efficient inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Cell viability of the plant parts tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) assay was high in order to flower, leaf, root, and stem. Total phenol content measured as tannic acid equivalent showed the highest value in flower. In conclusion, among the plant parts, especially leaf of L. salicaria, was rich in the chemical components, and showed efficient antioxidant/inhibitory activity on free radical and NO production, and was expected to be a functional material candidate.

Taxifolin-3-O--D-xylopyranoside and quercetin-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside were isolated from an EtOAc-soluble extract of the leaves of Chamaecyparis obtuse. Quercetin-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside was found to possess a potent inhibitory activity of human recombinant aldose reductase in vitro, its value being . Kinetic analysis showed that quercetin-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside exhibited uncompetitive inhibition against DL-glyceraldehyde. Also, quercetin-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside suppresses sorbitol accumulation in rat lens under high glucose conditions, demonstrating the potential to prevent sorbitol accumulation in vivo. These results suggest that this compound may be a promising agent in the prevention or treatment of diabetic complications.

The content of luteolin in the different parts of Lithospermum erythrorhizon was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Luteolin was quantified by a reverse-phase column with gradient solvent program (water : ACN = 90 : 10 to 77 : 23 for 60 min). UV detection was conducted at 330 nm. The content of luteolin was measured in the seeds (0.28 mg/g), stems (0.30 mg/g), and roots (0.16 mg/g) of L. erythrorhizon. The presence of luteolin in Lithospermum species is important in agricultural crop production for increasing the amounts of clinically available medicine and health supplements.

This study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial activities of organic extracts obtained from the fruit of Thuja orientalis L. The native fruits in Korea were collected and extracted by 80% ethanol, and the extract was sequentially fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, and butanol. The fraction yields of n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol and water of ethanol extract were 10.15%, 10.05%, 1.45%, 45.35% and 27.55%, respectively. n-Hexane-soluble fraction showed the highest antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria, while the chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol and aqueous fractions did not show any antibacterial activity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) on Staphyloycoccus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Sateptococcus pneumoniae, n-hexane-soluble fraction were , and /disc, respectively. The antibacterial activity was not destroyed by heating at 80, 100, for 30 min and was not affected by pH. In the inhibitory test against the Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Sateptococcus pneumoniae, n-hexane-soluble fraction showed potent growth inhibition at the concentration of 0.1 and for 12~24 hours and n-hexane-soluble fraction did not show any mutagenic activity.

Root extract of Lythrum salicaria reported a hepato-protective effect on -induced liver toxicity of rat was prepared into fractions such as n-hexane up layer (HA), n-hexane down layer (HB), diethyl ether (E), ethylacetate (EA), n-butanol (B) and water (W). Fractions prepared were tested their activities in vitro and in vivo condition. All of the fractions showed effective antioxidant asctivities on DPPH radical and -induced oxidation of human low density lipoprotein and E fraction showed the highest inhibitory effect (98.1% at ) on linoleic acid autoxidation at , which was more effective than -tocopherol (82.4%). Five fractions (H = HA plus HB, E, EA, B, and W, 150 mg/kg/day) were fed into Sprague Dawley, male rats for 4 days, which were intoxicated with intra-peritoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride ( in corn oil) at the 4th day and were sacrificed in 24 hrs. Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-), a proinflammatory cytokine, elevated with -intoxication in negative control group () was significantly decreased in E fraction-supplemented group (). Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased in negative control group (0.12 U/mg protein) was decreased in E fraction (0.07 U/mg protein). From the results, it is suggested that ether fraction from root extract of L. salicaria would be a potent antioxidant candidate for ameliorating liver injury induced by chemical intoxicant.

'Angelicae Pubescentis Radix' (APR) is an important oriental medical preparation. In Korea, Aralia continentalis has been recognized as the source plant of APR. Aralia cordata, which is difficult to distinguish from A. continentalis, and Heracleum moellendorffii, which is frequently used in lieu of A. continentalis, are traded in Korean herbal markets. In contrast, in China, Angelica pubescens is recognized as the source plant of APR. In this study, we devised a method not only to discriminate A. contientalis from A. cordata, but also to discriminate both A. contientalis and A. cordata from H. moellendorffii and A. pubescens. Based on the discrepancy in the sequences of specific regions of ITS, we designed a Cont F/ Cont R primer set to amplify a 173 bp PCR band that appears only in A. continentalis. Additionally, we designed an Ara F/ Ara R primer set to amplify a 278 bp PCR band that appears in both A. continentalis and A. cordata. Using these primer sets and the ST R primer to confirm the PCR amplification results, we developed a simple multiplex PCR method for differentiating A. continentalis from A. cordata and to concurrently differentiate both A. continentalis and A. cordata from other APR herbs.

Our paper shows the results of 302 samples of herb medicines about fungal contamination at Yakyeang markets in Seoul. The sample medicines were treated VICAM pretreatment and analysed by post column derivatisation procedure(PHRED-HPLC) with a fluorescence detector. Aflatoxin B1 was founded from 50.3% of samples, aflatoxin B2 was 39.7%, aflatoxin G1 was 21.2% and aflatoxin G2 was 23.5%. The detected ranges of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 were from 0.1 to , 0.1 to , 0.1 to and 0.1 to respectively. Among total samples, 26 samples contained aflatoxin B1 violated the regulation (less than 10 ug/kg) for aflatoxin B1 of KFDA. From the result, we could presumed that more than a half of samples were contaminated by aflatoxins. Therefore, it seems to be necessary that the new safety giudeline will be established aflatoxin B2, G1 and G2 from herb medicines as aflatoxin B1.

This study was conducted to investigate the content of sulfur dioxide residues in medicinal herbs in Seoul in 2009. Sulfur dioxide in the samples were determined by Monnier-Williams's modified method. A total of 1,821 samples of 205 different types of herbs were collected from Kyung-Dong Herb markets and Oriental medicine hospitals in Seoul. Of these samples, 642 samples were domestic, and 1,179 samples were imported. Of the 1,821 samples, 61 (3.3%, 31 types) failed to meet the regulations for sulfur dioxide residues of KFDA in medicinal herbs. Among these 61 unsuitable samples, 17 (7 types) were domestic, and 44 samples (26 types) were imported. The content of sulfur dioxide in the domestic medicinal herbs ranged from 0 to 809 mg/kg, while those in imported medicinal herbs ranged from 0 to 4,481 mg/kg. Approximately 84.6% of the samples contained less than 10 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide and about 10.0% of samples contained more than 30 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide.